For Degree Program Administrators:

Search Tips

For more precise search results when searching for an institution, try using a key term from the institution's name (e.g. Missouri when looking for the University of Missouri) or writing the entire name of the institution in quotation marks (e.g. "University of Missouri").

This is a great department where students can have experiences that will enrich their lives and prepare them for the future. Our programs provide the exciting opportunity to study individual development, family relationships and consumer issues as they affect each other, and to learn how to improve the quality of life for individuals and families in many settings. Our mission is to provide high quality undergraduate and graduate instruction to help students develop greater personal understanding and prepare for successful professional careers. For those who are exploring the professional options provided in this major, we are available to answer your questions and to help you make an informed decision.

The Family Science and Human Development Department provides students with a greater understanding of multiple ways of knowing families and children in various contexts. It enables students to critically analyze the literature and to keep abreast of trends in research. The faculty creates a learning environment that supports and encourages the development of forward thinking practitioners and educators who work with families and children in a variety of settings. The department of Family and Child Studies examines multiple ways of knowing families and individuals over the life course in various socio-cultural contexts. Power, diversity, and social justice are analyzed through an interdisciplinary and critical approach.

The mission of the Department of Human Development and Family Science is (a) to provide students with a comprehensive, integrated knowledge of families and individuals across the life span as appropriate preparation for careers in human services and/or graduate study, and (b) to conduct research on the variety of factors and contexts relevant to human and family development. The goal of the Department is to enhance the quality of life for individuals of all ages through teaching, research, and service in a manner consistent with the University's land grant mission. The Department recognizes the importance of an ecological approach to the study of human development and families, and utilizes a systemic approach in teaching, research, and service. Interactions of individuals and families with the economic, political, judicial, religious, and educational systems are emphasized. The Department also serves as a resource base for citizens of North Dakota in the area of individual and family life.

The degree programs offered through the department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences are interdisciplinary, applied social science programs designed to prepare you to enter a career in research or academia, human services, youth professions, family life education, cooperative extension, or community development in a public, private, or nonprofit organization.

HDFS is a leader in applied interdisciplinary scholarship focused on reducing risk and enhancing resilience within individuals and among families across cultures and generations. The distinguishing feature of HDFS is the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary integration of instruction, research and application between and among human development, family science, early childhood education, gerontology, and marriage and family therapy. Because integrative approaches are necessarily broad, the department's focus is on the many ways resilience may be discovered, developed, mastered, and maintained across human processes and contexts.

The Department of Child and Family Studies prepares students at the undergraduate and graduate levels to become competent professionals and effective family members. Our primary areas of emphasis focus on children, youth, families, and early learning in diverse contexts. A central foundation for our programs is the idea that scientific inquiry provides the most effective means to improve the welfare of children, youth, and families.A notable feature of both our undergraduate and graduate programs is the opportunity for outreach and engagement experiences in area communities. Students complete intensive semester-long experiences in a wide range of community placements including mental health, medical facilities, public and private schools, and intervention programs. Students also have the opportunity to join a research team of faculty and students.

The primary emphases of the department are human development and family processes within the context of larger sociocultural systems. The distinguishing feature of HDFS is this contextual focus. Individual lifespan development is viewed as transpiring within a web of close relationships/family relationships, and family systems are seen as both context for individual and interpersonal behaviors and as units nested in larger sociocultural environments. Our unique niche is a commitment to family diversity and a multicultural perspective in research, teaching, and service. In each of these areas, we focus on the diversity that characterizes human development within the family context. Because we define family diversity and multiculturalism broadly, our focus is on the multitude of ways that individuals within families may differ, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, family structure, nationality, geographic location, and sexual orientation.

The programs in Family and Child Sciences provides understanding of family relationships over the life span. We emphasize the diversity of families and how children and families are influenced by the broader environment and change over time. Students learn to apply this knowledge in working with children, youth and families in various professional settings through practicum experiences. Such experiences occur in a variety of human service agencies and organizations, educational and child care centers, and child and family advocacy organizations. The master's degree provides advanced knowledge of family process, child development, and evidence-based interventions; both a thesis and non-thesis options are available. Two doctoral programs are available: Marriage and Family Therapy and Human Development and Family Science. Both address relational development and enhancement of young adults, couples, and families; distressed families and relational interventions; and the link between parenting process and relational outcomes within the diversity of contemporary families. Both programs are highly research-focused and emphasize preparing the next generation of scholars with the goal of placing students in careers at colleges and universities, research units, and public policy organizations.

Ours is a student-centered department offering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in family science. Our graduate program offers emphasis areas in aging, adolescent development, couples and family therapy (master's level only), family finance and economics, and family processes (see http://fam.uky.edu/emphasis for more infomration). Our therapy program is fully accredited, and the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) credential is available for graduates of our bachelor's and master's programs. Within the department we have the Adolescent Development Lab and the Family Interaction Lab, we operate the Family Center with clinical and educational programming, and the departmemnt is affiliated with the college-wide Research Center for Families and Children.

Human Development and Family Studies fosters an understanding of human development and interpersonal relationships through a multidisciplinary and ecological lens, inclusive of biological, psychological, sociological, socio-cultural, and international perspectives. The program recognizes and addresses the central role of diversity and interdependence among families and communities in the process of human development, and promotes basic and applied research, as well as practice, in the service of individuals, families, and society.

Loma Linda University, a health sciences institution, is located approximately 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and just south of San Bernardino, California. Within the graduate school is the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, and the Loma Linda University Marital and Family Therapy Program. Started in 1971, the LLU Marital and Family Therapy Program became accredited in 1975 by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, making it one of the first accredited programs in the United States. Superb faculty and excellent clinical facilities combine to provide top quality training for students of the program. In addition to outstanding education, Loma Linda's inland location also provides easy access to mountains, beaches, and desert climates for numerous recreational opportunities. Recognizing our influence through teaching, research, supervised practice and service, the mission of the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences is to address relational needs and concerns of individuals and families over the life course as faced in the contexts of communities and in the larger global society; encourage spirited wholeness by attending to the physical, mental, and social dimensions of human experience; create understanding about humans as relating beings; advance appreciation for human diversity as modeled; advocate for the rights of all humans, for the protection of human dignity, and the value of respect in all human interactions; collaborate with community in terms of training, service, and scholarship in our field; and influence our immediate environment as well as the whole world. The Loma Linda University Masters Program in Marital and Family Therapy is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMTE). On May 22, 2012, the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) has determined that Loma Linda University's Masters' degree in Marital and Family Therapy meets the Senate Bill statutory requirements for Marriage and Family Therapy under Business and Professions Code section (BPC) 4980.36. It is a 90 quarter unit program.

Areas of Study

Child or Adolescent Science/Studies - Master's

Counseling (Child, Couples, or Family) - Master's

Family Science/Studies - Doctoral

Family Science/Studies - Master's

Therapy (Couples, Marriage, or Family) - Doctoral

Therapy (Couples, Marriage, or Family) - Master's

CFLE Approved

Last Updated

December 4, 2014

The discipline of Family Science is vibrant and growing. Visit Family.Science to learn more.